Friday Saturday

It seems it was officially announced today that starting September we switch from Thursday Friday being our weekend to Friday Saturday. Holidays will now fall on Sunday instead of Saturdays also.



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22 Comments, add your own...

  1. 1. Amjad | May 27th, 2007 at 7:46 pm

    Here in Oman they’re still studying the issue. lol .. Like they have been studying it since last September or something like that.

    They said ‘maybe’ they will apply it only on the private sector since it’s the sector which needs this switch the most. Dealing with international companies and banks I mean. But then again I don’t think it would be fair if it was only applied on the private sector.

    Anyway, the government still did not made its decision. Lets wait and see what will they say. Probably they will follow their brothers [rest of gulf countries] whom have been applying this switch lately.

  2. 2. Nxman | May 27th, 2007 at 7:46 pm

    Great news thanks Mark but what will happen to those how work half day on Thursdays? including yours truly :)

  3. 3. Amjad | May 27th, 2007 at 7:47 pm

    btw you didn’t mention where it was officially announced? :-s

  4. 4. Mark | May 27th, 2007 at 7:49 pm

    Nxman: I work half days Thursday but I think whats going to happen now is I work full day Thursday but have friday and saturday off.

    Amjad, it was announced at the parliament meeting today so I guess it should be on the news tonight and papers tomorrow morning.

  5. 5. Muh'd M. Mansour | May 27th, 2007 at 7:52 pm

    well..we had it 1st here in Egypt, for almost two years and it still feels weird to have Friday and Saturday as our weekend.

  6. 6. Mek | May 27th, 2007 at 7:53 pm

    The forgotten victim of this decision is Wednesday. No longer will it be the first real day of the weekend for kids and (most) adults alike, it will now be just another bloody tuesday.

    I WILL CELEBRATE THE VERY LAST WEDNESDAY SO HARD, I TELL YOU, YOU WILL ALL KNOW OF IT. IT SHALL BE THE LAST, YET THE BEST, WEDNESDAY EVER! TAKE THAT, PRAGMATISM!

  7. 7. Carlsb3rg | May 27th, 2007 at 8:12 pm

    shit. I really enjoyed having the saturday off.

  8. 8. LetmeGo | May 27th, 2007 at 8:44 pm

    finally!

  9. 9. Basit | May 27th, 2007 at 9:26 pm

    pfft! gay-ness!

  10. 10. mishref | May 27th, 2007 at 9:27 pm

    It is a life changing event.

  11. 11. RO | May 27th, 2007 at 9:55 pm

    I somehow think that the private sector will carry on as it is right now. We’ll work a half day on thursday and the full day off on friday.

  12. 12. Poison | May 27th, 2007 at 10:45 pm

    From the arabtimes web page:

    KUWAIT CITY, May 27, 2007 (AFP) - Kuwait on Sunday decided to switch its weekend to Friday-Saturday from Thursday-Friday, starting on September 1, State Minister Faisal al-Hajji told the official KUNA news agency.

    Kuwait will follow the example of Gulf partners the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar which all made the same switch last year in a measure designed to bring them closer to the working week in the West.

    The Kuwaiti decision, which applies to government offices, was taken during the weekly meeting of the cabinet in the oil-rich Gulf emirate on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission.

    Only oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Oman still apply the Thursday-Friday Muslim weekend in the six-nation alliance of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

    The private sector in Kuwait is not bound to follow the government, but banks and most of the oil sector already apply a Friday-Saturday weekend to be more in line with international markets, which close Saturday-Sunday.

  13. 13. Mark | May 27th, 2007 at 10:56 pm

    RO I doubt, currently the private sector is split in two with some people friday saturday and others thursday friday. now with the new system i think that everyone will shift to friday saturday, its better for them. working on saturday will be useless for the private sector if saturday is off for everyone. it would be like working on friday now.

  14. 14. Marzouq | May 27th, 2007 at 11:08 pm

    Sweeettt I just saw it on tv

  15. 15. Ralph | May 28th, 2007 at 12:06 am

    Kuwait switches to Friday-Saturday weekend

    KUWAIT CITY, May 27, 2007 (AFP) - Kuwait on Sunday decided to switch its weekend to Friday-Saturday from Thursday-Friday, starting on September 1, State Minister Faisal al-Hajji told the official KUNA news agency.

    Kuwait will follow the example of Gulf partners the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar which all made the same switch last year in a measure designed to bring them closer to the working week in the West.

    The Kuwaiti decision, which applies to government offices, was taken during the weekly meeting of the cabinet in the oil-rich Gulf emirate on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission.

    Only oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Oman still apply the Thursday-Friday Muslim weekend in the six-nation alliance of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

    The private sector in Kuwait is not bound to follow the government, but banks and most of the oil sector already apply a Friday-Saturday weekend to be more in line with international markets, which close Saturday-Sunday.

  16. 16. Biohazard | May 28th, 2007 at 12:39 am

    What the hell.. Now I can’t stay up on the first day of the weekend. I’d have Friday prayer the next day.. and I’d be too tired from getting up early for Friday prayer to stay up Saturday night.

    Damn it.. :(

  17. 17. baqala_dweller | May 28th, 2007 at 1:15 am

    it was always cool that things were still operational on thursdays, a natural declamation to the week. Go to work from saturday to wednesday, take care of personal stuff on a thursday morning, whether it’s taking the car to the garage or going to a shop. after this activity, the rest of the weekend is relaxed and the friday lassitude lingers. However, once this change you’re talking about is implemented, the psychology of the lazy friday morning will no longer be valid - shops will less likely be open on a friday, since everyone’s supposed to be at mosque. so on saturday, the city’s bustling again, and you won’t feel completely rested for work the next day.
    workwise, i don’t deal with the west and i don’t think by changing my weekly schedule anyone in the west will be impressed. this is not a move forwards.

  18. 18. Ali Bonga | May 28th, 2007 at 8:43 am

    What difference will it make as long I’m getting my two days of rest!
    The good that is coming out of this is having an excuse to leave work to go to the bank! I see it now! People will go to banks more than ever, just because they don’t have Thursdays!

  19. 19. Armani Exchange | May 28th, 2007 at 12:46 pm

    1st of September will be on Saturday … so does that means that it’s going to be a weekend followed by Thursday-Friday ?

  20. 20. Ansam | May 28th, 2007 at 12:47 pm

    I used to sleep a little more on Thursdays before getting up and going to work.. Thursday was the light wakeup day for me! Now I guess the whole week will have crowded streets during rush hours :-S

  21. 21. irishlassy85 | May 29th, 2007 at 11:17 pm

    i don’t like this, i liked having wednesday and thursday off .. it’s soooo different from the uk, and i like different..

  22. 22. Djoodj | May 29th, 2007 at 11:49 pm

    how do “mullas” of the parliament justify this. they claim to be religious and disprove of tons and tons of things and back it up with religious reasons, and yet, they allow us to have Saturday off, last time i checked, Saturday is the Sabbath, and not that it really matters to me, is the Jewish day off. I guess its all just a front, all they are really interested in is the money.

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